On their website, they trot out tired old lines that fail to give the whole story about prostate cancer screening:

When it comes to prostate cancer, early
detection saves lives. In fact, around 90% of prostate cancers found at
an early stage are cured. Men - and the women who love them - need to
be proactive in understanding the risk factors and how to 'aim for a
cure' through early detection.

That's what the Prostate Club is all
about. As a Club member, you will be making a commitment to discuss
screening with your doctor, and, if deemed appropriate for you, have
both a PSA test and digital rectal exam (DRE). It's quick and simple,
and it could save your life.

There should be nothing "quick and simple" about the decision to
pursue prostate cancer screening. The American Cancer Society and
others urge that:

"men should have an opportunity to learn
about the benefits and limitations of testing for the detection and
treatment of early prostate cancer. ... At the center of the uncertainty
concerning the balance of benefits and harms related to testing for
early prostate cancer detection is the fact that treatment for prostate
cancer can cause moderate to substantial harms, including erectile
dysfunction, urinary incontinence, bowel dysfunction, and death.
Although some prostate cancers are aggressive and life-threatening,
others grow so slowly that they may never produce symptoms, or may not
progress to a point at which they are life-threatening before a man
dies from other causes. Because aggressive therapy can measurably
reduce a patient's quality of life, there are serious and yet
unanswered questions regarding the balance of benefits to harm related
to the treatment of screen-detected disease when that disease may be
indolent or so slow-growing that it may pose a low risk of death."

Will members of The Club be told all of this? It doesn't appear on their website.

Instead, men are lured in by offers of prizes like hockey tickets IF
they commit to discuss screening. And there are no rules about ages of
men who are eligible. The site says that "age 50 has traditionally been
the age for starting to consider PSA testing," but that others are now
urging men to have a baseline test as early as age 40. There's no
mention of how controversial those earlier screening recommendations
are. Just the pitch, "If you've hit the age of 40, you need to join the
Prostate Club for Men."

"As the evening anchorman for WGRZ-TV 2 in
Buffalo for the last 12 years, it's my job to inform the viewers of
Western New York. To me, informing our viewers of the latest health
news is of utmost importance. ...

Our goal is to have men get screened for prostate
cancer. By the way, it's very easy to do... it only takes seconds to
get checked and it's totally painless! I get screened every year during
my birthday week. Booking my doctor's appointment the week of my
birthday helps me to remember to do it yearly, and it's a birthday
present not only to myself, but to my family as well.

...It's about time men learn how easy it is to get screened for prostate cancer--early detection is the key to your success!"

Not one word about controversy, about uncertainty, about the harms
of screening, about the importance of careful shared decision-making
discussions to weigh the potential harms along with the potential
benefits.

"As I sat down to write this editorial, I heard a radio commercial that
brings perspective to the issue. A local celebrity was promoting
prostate cancer awareness. He said, "Prostate cancer is 100% curable
when caught early." He encouraged all men to get screened and announced
that a van was touring the area offering screening in supermarket
parking lots. This was a community service project sponsored by the
radio station, the supermarket chain, and a radiation oncology
practice.

A commercial like this plays to our fears and prejudices. ...

Prostate cancer screening has resulted in substantial
overdiagnosis and in unnecessary treatment. It may have saved
relatively few lives. ... The benefits of prostate cancer screening are
still open to question. This means that informed or shared decision
making should be done using the data now available before screening is
performed. Some of the confusion of prostate cancer screening can be
avoided if we all clearly label what we know, as what we know; what we
do not know, as what we do not know; and what we believe, as what we
believe. Of course, one must not confuse what is believed with what is
known to do this."

Those weren't my words, but the words of the chief medical officer
of the American Cancer Society. Gee, do you think this editorial should
be put on the website of The Prostate Club For Men?

More in Blogs

MedPageToday is a trusted and reliable source for clinical and policy coverage that directly affects the lives and practices of health care professionals.

Physicians and other healthcare professionals may also receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education (CE) credits at no cost for participating in MedPage Today-hosted educational activities.